The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.

Friday, May 23, 2014

All that remains

Trash or treasure?
We first rented our storage locker
in 2006. Having downsized from
Columbus and Minneapolis, we
filled it with boxes boldy marked
"give/sell" or "second home". The
idea was that this tin box the size
of a small garage was temporary.
Eight years later, we're cleaning up
our mess and oh my... what a mess
we're in. Rather than Aladdin's cave,
it's a Montanan version of Dante's
inferno. Or as I prefer to call it...
the land of the misbegotten.

The good, bad, and ugly
Let's be clear. There are many items
of value within it's walls. So far we
have uncovered some furniture that
survived the years intact. Happily
the mouse traps and poison worked.
One desiccated corpse aside, not a
single item was "mousey". With our
treasures now removed whatever is
still left is questionable at best. We
haven't tackled the row of dusty
wardrobe boxes yet. One can only
wonder what wonders we've yet
to discover! Vintage chic?

What a waist...
What's saddest is that Frank can
still easily don his forgotten togs.
Whereas most of my mound of
designer duds can now only be
worn as hats. It's obvious that my
partner watches his calories and
is still within a single digits of his
welter weight. On the other hand
I enjoy life a bit too much. The
result? My corpulent composure!
If nothing else gazing at Dolce's
and Gautier's past will bring back
memories plus motivation to diet.

Back issues
Several treasures remain unopened
after their tenure in Montana. You
see they arrived here hermetically
sealed. Filled with old decorating
magazines, they've moved with us
from city to city for over eighteen
years. While not quite antiques, at
this point my plan is to keep them
preserved as a sealed time capsule
for future generations. Some day
I hope they'll fuel dreams of times
gone by. It's a heavy responsibility
preserving our decorative heritage!

Picture this
Much of the debris are remnants
of my parent's move to Montana.
Things they couldn't fit in assisted
living or I couldn't let go of after
they finally left us. The other day
I came across a large box filled
with Kodachrome slides. As soon
the dust settles (literally) I plan to
spend a few days sorting through
them. While the projector is long
gone, I hope to scan these images
I haven't looked at in thirty years.
Memories are so precious!

Remembrance of things past
A few bits and pieces aside, we truly
have no use for most of this stuff.
Even more distressing is that after
paying a monthly fee for eight years,
whatever financial value these dregs
of the past had will now never equal
our preservation fund. That said, as
we sift through parts of our life long
forgotten it's well worth the fare. The
oddest items bring back the brightest
visions of yesterday. Therefore I'm
glad we saved it all. However I'll be
happier once we've gotten rid of it!